Exec Producer: This Is For The New Generation

[Apollo]

Executive Producer David Bartis has distanced the new Knight Rider from the criticisms that it will most likely, and has, gotten from certain echoes of the public. When being asked on the process involved in the selection of the car model, he asserted that.

We knew that we wanted to bring the car to a new audience and reinvent it enough. And that meant going out with a new model. We also knew it had to be American. It had to be two door. It had to have some muscle to it. It had to be exciting to watch.

When you line up sort of all the options available that fulfill those requirements, you know, for me personally it became sort of an obvious choice. And when we started digging into all the different models and lines available, and Ford showed us this new Shelby which isn’t even on the market yet, you know, it kind of blew us away.

He also suggested that they were prepared for alot of heat and anger from the original fans in regards to this decision, but stressed that they felt they needed to take this into a new fresh direction, in essence, to capture the hearts of a new breed of fans instead of catering to the fans of the original show only.

..Obviously, for the original fans there’s a lot of loyalty and strong feelings about the car. And we understand that, and we felt the same way. But we also knew that we had to bring the show to a new audience and reinvent it. We made the choice that we thought was the best choice out there. And we’re pretty excited about the car. We’re happy with the way it turned out.

It's clear that in this interview there is a real emphasis of trying to distinguish the original from the new show. I was wondering if people think this is just some sort of tactic to distance the show from the negative reactions it may get - which will undoubtedly be mainly from the fans of the original Knight Rider. I'm personally a fan of the original, and although I was horrified to see that the new KITT would be a Mustang I have to agree that this new direction will appeal to a greater audience. The new "cool" isn't whats on the surface, or how aerodynamic a car may look, but it's personality and the capabilities it packs inside, and I get the strong impression that this is the concept they want to take the new Knight Rider in, a more gritty blunt approach.

For the full interview, check this link out.

http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.c ... d_Bartis._

[krfan08]

I don't mind it being a Mustang. I only wish they would take off the silly double spoiler and black out the headlights.

[Alexandre Daigle]

A fun question came to my mind. Was NBC's KR movie last night a better remake than Bay's TransFormers ?

Obviously, Bay had a very different budget for TransFormers, but for hardcore fans of both franchises from the 80's, I figured I'd like to hear what people had to say when asked that question.

For the last 120mn, I've been reading the forums (don't tell my boss !!!) and yesterday's show's main pros and cons are truly beginning to appear evident. The idea for the KR-TF parallel came when I noticed many of the shortcomings mentioned had a lot in common with what we could read on boards last summer when Bay's TF came out.

Personally, I tend to agree with a lot of the most recurrent pros and cons. However, it took me about 6 months and 8 or 10 viewings before I felt honest about my opinion for Bay's TF. The more I watched, the more I became familiar with what I saw and therefore things started to grow on me.

[GN_WS6]

Soo.. they would rather lose MOST of the original fans the show had? They could've used an '02 Trans Am. Though a bit older now, the styling is still very modern and attractive. Not to mention it still shows a connection with the '82 model the REAL KITT is based off of. I'm 28 years old. I grew up watching the original series and I have all of the seasons on DVD. My younger brother who is 19 and all of his friends who are all his age and into "the car scene" didn't even tune in last night. So, if that was your target audience, you missed the mark. The "new audience" doesn't really watch t.v anymore, especially not the basic local channels. They spend most of thier time playing video games and sitting on the internet. Casting a 1960s retro-styled late model Mustang for the ultra-modrern role of KITT was very foolish, imho. I watched the 2 hour "movie/possible pilot" with disgust last night. I'm not a fan of this rubbish, nor will I ever tune in to the new series.

[Apollo]

Soo.. they would rather lose MOST of the original fans the show had? They could've used an '02 Trans Am. Though a bit older now, the styling is still very modern and attractive. Not to mention it still shows a connection with the '82 model the REAL KITT is based off of. I'm 28 years old. I grew up watching the original series and I have all of the seasons on DVD. My younger brother who is 19 and all of his friends who are all his age and into "the car scene" didn't even tune in last night. So, if that was your target audience, you missed the mark. The "new audience" doesn't really watch t.v anymore, especially not the basic local channels. They spend most of thier time playing video games and sitting on the internet. Casting a 1960s retro-styled late model Mustang for the ultra-modrern role of KITT was very foolish, imho. I watched the 2 hour "movie/possible pilot" with disgust last night. I'm not a fan of this rubbish, nor will I ever tune in to the new series.

I think it's telling that, wherever I go to search for reactions to the movie last night, the majority enjoyed it and those who did not, a large bulk of them were the "loyalists". What does that say? Although I agree with you, that a new stylish model would have caught interest, I still believe that this Shelby will find people who can, firstly relate to the vehicle, and thus admire it for what it does on the screen. I'm not into cars that much but KITT looked pretty damn good in motion in my opinion.

[pdjfunk]

I'm neither a Ford or GM fan. I've owned a camaro, a firebird and a mustang.
I believe a lot of the original fans are going to be turned off with KITT being a Mustang, but since their isn't a current firebird model, the Mustang does look sharp. It's too bad they couldn't wait for the new camaro, but iguess producing shows are pricey and the Ford "bought" the show.

I'm a traditionalist, but by the end, I didn't mind the Ford, and thought the Mustang filled the role nicely. What did insult my senses, was that the original show was not a plug for GM, whereas I felt the new movie was a FORD promo. That's fine to use their own vehicles, but half the show was shot staging the vehicles. How many times did the Cobra bage come up? how many angles can you see the ford badging form?

I wish the show had been more about Knight and car's personality, than product placement and promoting.

By the way, I was a huge fan of TF, but didn't like the essence of the remade movie. Maybe the producers should work on originals other than insulting the originals. Not doing a good job in my mind. Like most new movies and shows, it's more about the bling than the story...

[KITT3000]

THE PRODUCER IS SOOOO RIGHT!


and that's why he will never produce a hit show! and why this movie was a joke.

[Michael Pajaro]

Say what you will... the movie GAINED VIEWERS every half hour. The outspoken "loyalists" you see on the internet are not a representative sample. If an audience doesn't like a TV movie, they change the channel. Overall, that's not what happened last night.

Star Trek: The Next Generation had to distance itself from the original at first so it could establish itself.
Smallville changed the existing Superman canon.

Two hit shows which reinvented their franchises. Knight Rider is trying to do the same.

[Nismo]

it's more like who will put out more money to sponsor the production of the show, and hand over cars at their disposal. I guess Ford wins the bid. Poor choice of car, yet, never have said enough. The premier may have a decent number of viewers, but we'll see how many will return, as the premier was pretty weak.

[KamenRider]

It's always a delicate thing. Bringing something time-honored back while at the same trying to be sure it doesn't seem tired or a retread. What ultimately tells the tale is the decisions they make about what to keep, what to throw out, and what to change in combination with how good the brand new ideas the creators are brining to it are. Sometimes it can be bad to stick too closely to the original and in others very bad to distance yourself to the degree that only the freakin name is the same. Finding that balance is tough, real tough but it can be done.

We also have to keep in mind to that there will be things that are beyond the creators control. The Bumblebee thing with Transformers is a perfect example. If the company that owns the image of that car tells you no, then what the hell do you do? Stop the entire project dead in it's tracks?

I'm not saying this to imply that new show is perfect or above criticism. It's got it's problems of course. I just think we have to be careful not to damn and dismiss the thing for not being 1984.